Welcome to the AC Tropical Fish aquarium forum. Our aquarium forum is the place to discuss any aquarium related issue in a friendly environment. Our aquarium forum welcomes aquarists of all levels from beginners to experts. Please ask a question in the how to section of our forum or read the FAQ section if you have any questions. register to and become a part of our friendly aquarium forum community today.

He doesn't start with "hardy" fish or anything, just the ones he wants. There's never any deaths or big things. Odd... The tank he currently has is 2 years old, and by the smell of it, it's mature (earthy smell).

Whatever criteria he uses to choose them I assure you 95% they are hardy species. Especially if none of them die.

Do you know what I mean by "hardy"? I can assure you he isn't starting new tanks, just putting in brand new filter and heater, dumping in water, dechlorinator, and 4 or 5 discus as the 1st fish....lol

Let the future tell the truth, and evaluate each one according to his work and accomplishments. The present is theirs; the future, for which I have really worked, is mine. - Nikola Tesla

He had serpae tetras tiger barbs some cichlids and a pictus cat. It was a very large tank

EXACTLY my point. 1st of all Large tanks are easier to cycle than small because as long as you do not overstock then the poisons are majorly diluted thus more tolerant to mistakes. 2nd If you click on my link in my sig that says "Selecting your 1st Fish for a new FW tank" You will see a list of fish and you will notice most of what you listed in your fathers tank are GOOD 1st or 2nd choice Fish (Very Hardy).

So even though he didn't follow the scientific method on purpose he did basically follow it anyway.

Thus my original statement bares true...

Originally Posted by tanks4thememories

If no fish die when your dad sets up a new tank then I can scientifically deduct that he does the following:
Does not overstock
Does frequent water changes
Feeds sparingly
Only Stocks very hardy fish

Now your dad may call this simply "his" way, it is in fact his "traditional" method, we basically add a few more things in to the program for testing and other considerations and call it "Cycling with fish"...lol

Let the future tell the truth, and evaluate each one according to his work and accomplishments. The present is theirs; the future, for which I have really worked, is mine. - Nikola Tesla

I understand cycling and I wouldn't start a tank without doing it. However, there are MANY people who come in to buy fish at the pet store where I work and they have just set up their tank with brand new filters, didn't even know about using dechlor or water conditioner. And when I tell them about cycling, etc, they think I'm crazy because they threw their fish in and they were fine.

These people didn't add dechlor, didn't do any water changes, overfed and over stocked. And their fish lived. I DON'T UNDERSTAND IT. It goes against everything... that makes sense!

I understand cycling and I wouldn't start a tank without doing it. However, there are MANY people who come in to buy fish at the pet store where I work and they have just set up their tank with brand new filters, didn't even know about using dechlor or water conditioner. And when I tell them about cycling, etc, they think I'm crazy because they threw their fish in and they were fine.

These people didn't add dechlor, didn't do any water changes, overfed and over stocked. And their fish lived. I DON'T UNDERSTAND IT. It goes against everything... that makes sense!

Many many variables, least of which is someone who doesn't know what they are doing usually cant tell you accurately what they did...lol. Besides that its things like hadry fish, well water (No chlorine). and lots of LUCK... Which if you noticed earlier I said (and still say) I will not go into...lol

Let the future tell the truth, and evaluate each one according to his work and accomplishments. The present is theirs; the future, for which I have really worked, is mine. - Nikola Tesla

Many still do not pre-cycle but the success depends on the experience of the hobbyist. The experienced have learned that it will require many water changes and a low stock of fish to get them thru it successfully. They've also learned that only their first tank needs to be cycled and all other later tanks get an instant cycle from simply moving the used filter media to the new tank. The problem is that newbies do not know this. They don't know about growing bacteria. They don't know they should be testing their water for toxins. They don't know about overstocking a new tank, over-feeding and needing dozens of water changes. And they don't know a large tank will get far less toxic than smaller tanks or that a tank fully planted will help absorb some of those toxins.

Fishless cycling is not new to this forum. Read the internet. It's been out there for a long, long time simply because you save your fish and you grow such a huge load of bacteria right from the beginning that you are able to fully stock your tank right from the beginning with no deaths, no daily water changes and far less work in the long run.